Wednesday 9 Sep

Doug stopped by yesterday. In two weeks our asses are gonna be in Eckerman. We are going to take his boat rather than his trailer. I’m glad he’s taking his boat instead. That’ll mean spending five nights in a tent, but I’ve got an air mattress, and enough afghans to keep ten people warm. Word has it that there are going to be eighteen people there this year. This is a good news, bad news sorta deal. There ain’t much better than the sound of a slew of brothers, standing around a fire while practicing "creative factual embellishment" to each other. On the down side, Dave Crandall, "the only member of our esteemed group who brought his wife to the banquet" held on the last Saturday in September a little north of downtown Eckerman was gonna be there. So were the Whitely boys. In an article I wrote about a preceding Eckerman trip, I talked about an attitude that some bear hunters exhibited in a rather derogatory manner, and these were the guys. It was on the same trip that Dave brought his wife and from what I’ve heard from the newspaper editor, the article will be on the stands then. Some of the guys haven’t been up for the last couple of years, a couple more have never been up and one hasn’t been back since the first year.

Wes brought up a mobile trailer that has more square footage than some of the homes we live in. When plans were being made for the "Eckerman 1" he had told the rest of us that he was going to bring up his trailer. For some reason, I figured he’d be pulling up a popup, but what he pulled in with was an "EXTENDORAMA". When he first pulled in, I wasn’t even sure if he could get it all on the lot, but after some deft maneuvering he got it backed in to where he wanted it. A little while later as I was walking by, the living room and the bedroom were extending out the side! Well, I figured I was a little too dirty to be walking through that thing, but some of the other guys didn’t feel that way. His place to trashed and he hasn’t been back since.

We’re going to pack all the gear on the Sunday before and I’ll go into work with him on Tuesday.

Today I cleaned and straightened my tackle box and polished my spoons.

Tuesday 14 Sep

One week from today, at about this time, I will be in Eckerman. I haven’t heard from Doug since my last entry, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I started packing my AWOL bag and checked off those items from the list. Good news from Dan Lee this morning. Next Tuesday and Wednesday are supposed to be nice, and then it’s gonna get cold. I would hate to spend five days feeding the bugs. Don stopped by Friday last week. He wasn’t sure how many people were going. He printed up some flyers but hasn’t got many positive responses. He did mention that his dad may be coming up though and I’m pretty excited about that. Nothing could make this trip more complete than to spend an evening getting hammered with an ex-Marine. Don’s dad is maybe three years older than I am and he served in the Mediterranean a little before I did as a sailor. There are several ports-of-call and the establishments held thereon that we probably both frequented, and a few historical events as well. As much as I enjoy the friendship and company of these guys, I am old enough to be their father and I’d like to share what I’ve learned from these guys to someone who has a history similar to my own.

The positive "For sure" is Doug and I, B.B., Jamie Crandall, Beagle, and Dan Cox. The last sign up day is the 20th, so I won’t know the entire list ‘till Wednesday when Don gets up. B.B., Crandall, and Doug are all bringing boats up, so the fishing trip up the Tahquamenon River is still on. Don said that the neighborhood bear is still around. He had some grease hanging in a plastic jug 12’ off the ground and there were teeth holes in the bottom of it. I’m bringing my tent but I’m going to occupy the cabin this year.

I talked to Doug today, and we’re taking the house trailer rather than his boat. Maybe he heard about the bear too. He’s going to drop off the money tomorrow and he and Becky will drop off the S-10 Saturday afternoon. Sunday am, I’ll pack all the stuff in it and take it out to Doug’s. We’ll pack the trailer then.

20 Sep 04

Doug and I left East Jordan about noon, and got up to Eckerman around 2. No surprises this trip, any trailers burning tires off, or critters jumping out in front of us. We were still unpacking when Karl Johnson pulled in. He said he’d been baiting west of here a ways, and was on his way home. He also told us that he’d been logging on Beaver Island that year and he’d seen a lot of deer. He said the island needed some imported bucks to spice up the population a little. He also said the deer looked like small dogs with nice racks. He wouldn’t be back for the Eckerman excursion, and I felt a little disappointed that he wasn’t going to be there. I took a picture of him for the archives and he was on his way.

As Doug set up the trailer, I cleaned up this year’s crop of apples and emptied out the fire pit. I don’t know who was there ahead of us, but the coals were still hot when I started cleaning it out. Jamie had the keys to the cabin, so until he showed up we were going to have to rough it. We had sizzle steaks for dinner and headed fishing off Highbanks, and by 5:30 Doug had a fish on the beach. We used slip sinkers and crawlers, with air pumped in. I caught one 15" and two 11 3/4". Doug got one 17" and one 11.75". As we were sitting there about 7pm, Doug says that Brian is on his way. I thought he meant generally speaking, but 5 minutes later Brian comes driving in. Doug's ears are a hellava lot better than mine. I think he heard him when BB pulled off of the highway.

About 7:20 Harley walked over, and not long after that, a friend of Kelly's walked up. I'm not sure if she's a little nuts or just trying to get rid of us, but she kept throwing an apple in the lake and Harley kept retrieving it. Doug moved down the beach and I ran interference.

We got back to the cabin around 8:30 and cooked the trout. Brian's got himself a really nice grill. I'm not sure if it was the fish, the grill, where we were, or how he cooked them but those bastards tasted good. At 10:30 we were contemplating packing it in for the day when Jamie pulled in! Electricity! What a concept, in an instant we went from the 19th Century to the 21st. I went to bed at 11 with a pounding headache.

21 Sep '04

Got up at 6 feeling fuckin' great! Went into the cabin and put on a pot of coffee and proceeded to the shitter. By the time I was finished helping with the ambiance of the shit-house, the coffee was finished. This morning as I write this, its 55 degrees and clear skies. It's going to be a glorious day. Talk around the fire has us going up to the Tahquamenon River and spending a day, maybe Friday. Tonight, if time allows, we're going back to high banks and use fly rods. The fish were feeding pretty heavy off the surface yesterday. Of the five fish we got yesterday, we got one female so now we have eggs too.

Both Brian and Jamie brought boats along so it's gonna be a hellava week. There was some talk last night of mowing the lawn, but somehow, I don't think that's gonna happen

As we were eating the scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast, I looked back into the tree line and spotted the source of the constant din that emanated from those trees. The trees were loaded with red squirrels. These little critters have been host to a yearly activity that I’ve enjoyed with every occurrence. The first year it was Denis who scored the most hits, and I’ll never forget the look on his face when he ate his first score.

I was coming back from the trailer with my .22 when I heard B.B. talking to Jamie and Doug about a lady he once saw. This woman was coming out of a casino and she was "Big enough to eat hay and shit in the street". It’s stuff like that, that makes these trips so unique.

Jamie went next door to see some of the guys that were here last year and it looks like there won’t be any big parties. That was one hellava shindig those boys put on last year and I was looking forward to another one.

22 Sep '04

7:15am. Red squirrels everywhere!

Brian has a new trailer. Three times bigger than his last one and I'll bet there's four times the stuff in it. I was a little surprised a while later when I stuck my head in the door. I’d always pictured that mobile lair as part hardware store and part museum with a bed in the middle of it. Every year he comes out of that thing with something different and I always look forward to what he has next. What it looked like was a regular, really nice trailer. I’ll bet his cabinets double as display cases though.

I got up from writing about 7 and with a cup of coffee; I headed out to the campfire to get some life into it. I’m usually up before daylight and by the time it gets light enough out there to walk, I’m ready to get out of the cabin. I’d no sooner step out of the cabin and the red squirrels start bitching at me. I didn’t want to wake up the guys shooting at them, so I grabbed some apples and gave it a try. Chucking apples at them is fun, but it’s not even close to blowing their brains out against a tree. Everyone was up by 8am so I never got the chance to decimate their numbers.

We left for Pike Lake about 11 and it turned into more of a ride than we’d figured on. Doug rode with Jamie and I rode with B.B. They took the lead because Doug had brought up a G.P.S. I had brought along my county map book, well, because I never leave without it, and this time I'm glad I did. I had the book out when we flew by the road we were supposed to go down, and wondered what was up. B.B. called them on the radio, but they either didn’t have it on, or the volume wasn’t up enough. B.B. and I figured that Doug had the G.P.S. so he must have known where we were going. We were almost to Newberry when B.B. started trying to ram them. We’d blinked the lights for a while, and then turned on the headlights, high beam, to get their attention and it just wasn’t working. We were riding side by each down the highway when Jamie looks out his window and waves. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get there and 45 minutes to get back.

Brian and I came upon some "clear cutting" near Pike Lake. It looked to be a mile to the other tree line from where we stood and almost as wide. When these guys get serious about moving some timber they don’t fuck around.

Doug fished with Jamie in the "Crestliner" and I went with Brian in "Old Red". Jamie has a Crestliner circa 1960 with a 40 hp, and Brian has a 12' johnboat with a 1955 3hp. Jamie'd pulled us around to different areas of the lake and then we'd use the electric motor to fish. We also had with us a lake map book. I don’t know how efficient this book is, on the whole, but for this lake they had it right. Brian caught three pike, Doug got six, Jamie got two and I got back. Excellent weather the entire day.

We went back to the cabin for some lunch and to re-set the rods, and Brian and I both decided not to take the fly rods. That was a mistake, but Doug took his. When we got there the lake looked like a piece of glass and the fish were rising everywhere. Doug got out his fly rod that his brother-in-law had given him and gave it a try. Doug’s brother-in-law is a stream fisherman so Doug had a reel full of sinking line. Brian caught an 18" which set a new record for the group. I got one 14", Doug got two 12", and Jamie got one 12". We met the neighbors on the lake, as well as Harley's mom, the sheriff of the lake. She had a D.J. from the Soo visiting her so we got to compare our preferences in music.

Our dinner that night was trout, red potato's (deep-fried) and morel mushrooms. I have been a lover of that fungus for a long time, both in hunting and eating. Living through the night that followed has convinced me that I’ll just have to enjoy the hunting part.

23 Sep '04

Doug and I skipped breakfast and headed over to Highbanks early and see if we could get some early risers. It was a nice way to spend the morning, but Doug only got one.

When we got back to the cabin, B.B. and Jamie were working with B.B.’s G.P.S. Using the unit, he showed us where and how far he traveled in search of a deer last winter. From the looks of it, he had one hellava walk. He also told me where we were upon this planet:

After some lunch, we all went up to the gravel pit for some skeet shooting. We usually just go across the street but Jamie had found a spot that was on a hill so we’d have a better chance of hitting them. After a box or two, and a sore shoulder, I finally started hitting them. B.B. had a little trouble with his side-by-each but Doug and Jamie were hitting them regular. We spent maybe a half-hour picking up some firewood and then headed back to camp.

Dave Crandall and Pat Elliot pulled in maybe seven minutes apart at 7:pm. that night. Pat's on his way to Shingleton to help set up a bear camp. Dave brought up his Lund and we're taken' 'er up the river tomorrow. Doug and I went across the road to try the clay pigeons some more but it didn’t improve any. Doug got one bird. Dinner was brats and I made some Bacon wraps. The guys made a 911 trip into town for embellishment assistance.

24 Sep '04

We left the cabin at 9:15 and were launching the boats at 10am. The idea was, we’d fish likely looking spots on our way up, but if things were slow, we’d head right for the falls. We worked over quite a few spots and then decided to go as far as the "Smerf Hut" and take a break.

It was during the time we spent fishing the holes; I noticed something about the cabins along the river. There is a lot of room in between these properties, and that "room" is filled up with U.P. foliage. A few are survivors of the logging era and stand far above every thing else that’s growing and the young stuff is eighty years old. As I traveled along that river I admired what Mother Nature can do in so short a time. What I was seeing was strengthening until we came upon a spot where "Homo sapiens" became involved. Out in the middle of this paradise, people will remove all of its native vegetation and import the same stuff they have growing in their yards back home. Where we stopped though was almost invisible.

Jamie and Doug had been up this river earlier and met a gentleman who spent his summers staying in his cabin. I’m not going to print anything here, but the conversation about his "nature" was interesting. If anyone needs to know whom it was, or where it is, they’ll have to come up on one of these trips and find out for themselves.

We ventured on until we came to the spot where another falls would be if the water level were lower. We were putting along in 20 feet of water when the sonar told us the bottom had moved up 19 and a half feet. The watercolor is a deep red from the tannic acid, so viewing the bottom is a lost cause. In any case, we anchored and gave it a go. The fish were marking well on the sonar, but whatever it was they wanted we didn’t have it.

Don was there when we got back and we spent the evening filling him in on what had been going on. It was then that I got the bad news. There weren’t nearly as many people coming as we’d originally thought. For me, a very large part of these trips is the anticipation of the events that’ll hopefully occur. In years past most of these events have been shared with a lot of good people and was a little sad that they weren’t going to be here.

25 Sep '04

When I got up at 6:30, it looked as though it was going to pour. At 8, it was clearing up again. It's been an astounding week for weather. I had visions of pouring rain and sleet. Faaaar from that.

Only six people here for the Friday night party. Usually by Friday night, everyone would be here who was coming and most of those guys had to work all week. The first couple of trips, Saturday morning didn’t even start until I got out the double-barreled alarm clock. Remembering back on years when the chairs would encircle the fire pit and there would be 50 dead solders to be picked up the next morning, this was a bit of a letdown. This morning there was but 10 and two of those were pop cans. Such high hopes we feel for the future and a little sadness when it doesn't happen.

We still had a hellava good party, even without them. We watched the videotape of the ride the day before, and laughed each other off our benches talking about it. It was a hellava ride, I'm glad I brought the camera.

26 Sep ’04

Since it was for us the last day of trout season, we all headed across the street and pay homage to the red bellied speckled trout. I was able to harvest one of those beauties while Doug went on a reconnoiter up the trail. He found a spot where there had been a lot of people and it looked as though they’d be back. After his ride, he went with Dave and Jamie Crandall on an exploration. Don was cooking Roast Bear and Steaks when I got back from the fishing, and Brian cooked up some chili and made an apple bread thing that was great, for dinner that night. It was about the quietest banquet that I’d ever been to. I don’t know about the rest of the guys, but I really missed all the people who used to come.